Tales of Midbar: Secret Priest

We got off and found several hairies, with distinctive purple straps around their scantily clad bodies.

“These will escort us,” thought Rilletteecket, “but we can ask to be taken to various places. Nobody will bother us while we’re with them.”

The hairy guides were all nibeyim (the pilots, stewardess and other passengers were all hipsickim) and were talking excitedly among themselves as we approached.

“Who or what do you want to see?” thought Rilleteecket.

We hadn’t really considered that.

“The wisest priest,” thought Dwendra.

The guides had spread themselves out. Rilleteecket seemed to be heading for one with a pale face and yellow fur, who she spoke to. The guide reacted excitedly and led us to a lop sided arch.

As we walked through the complex, several hairies joined our group and seemed to be arguing with the guide.

“They’re disturbed by naked anavim,” thought Rilletteecket. “They admire anavim because Yoho’s avatar’s an anav but they don’t like nakeds.”

“Doesn’t Yoho’s avatar look like a faharni?” I asked.

“He looks like a glildac,” thought Dwendra.

“Why should he look like a glildac?” I asked.

“Because we’re the race of psychics through whom Yoho communicates.”

“There are lots of psychics who aren’t glildacs,” I thought. “Anyway, the races on the starship interbred and the races we have now evolved from the hybrid swarm but we don’t have glildacs now, except you.”

“Glildacs have a higher proportion of psychics than other races, that’s why the other races hate us. Many of us can trace our ancestry back to Yohoists who lived on Earth.”

“The Ailathnar said the same thing,” thought Rilletteecket, “I mean they had more psychics than other peoples so Yoho used them to communicate with the world, but they were nakeds.”

I decided this argument was getting silly so I thought, “Tom might know what Yoho’s avatar looks like, he’s from the same universe.”

Rilletteecket said something to the hairies. “They don’t think nakeds should be allowed to meet the high priestess even if we are anavim.”

“That’s racist,” I thought. “Racism is wrong because Yoho created us with the ability to evolve into different races.”

“Tell them they’re as bad as the nakeds who enslaved them,” thought Dwendra.

Rilletteecket said something to the hairies. I think it was along the lines that racism was wrong.

“We weren’t alive when their ancestors were slaves,” I thought, “and aren’t these hairies descended from a naked priest?”

Rilletteecket said something else.

One of the hairies started getting very angry.

“Didn’t like that,” thought Rilleteecket, “she’s saying how their naked priest ancestor had always treated hairies well, even before the rebellion, and got into trouble for being anti-racist.”

“But now they’re being racist,” thought Dwendra.

“You shouldn’t condemn people for things they can’t change,” I thought, “like race, sex or orientation.”

“Orientation?” thought Rilleteecket. “Yes, I suppose scripture only condemns those who commit homosexual acts, not those who are inclined to do it.”

The hairies started arguing with themselves. From what I picked up from Rilletteecket, I think some were trying to find theological justification for racism but others disagreed with this because that was what the nakeds had done. Then I heard a loud, deep but decidedly feminine voice. Everybody stopped arguing and the nakeds in front of us stepped aside so we could see a hairy nibeyah with reddish-brown fur.

“What have I instructed you to do in such a situation?” asked the deep-voiced nibeyah, looking at the hairies. Although she was speaking the Kledris language, I could somehow understand her.

“That we should bring anavim to you?” said our guide, I somehow managed to understand that as well.

“Precisely,” said the reddish-brown furred nibeyah. “Anavim are destined to take over the world, they should be treated with respect.”

I recognized this prophecy, which was well known in Midbar-Binah but nobody seemed sure what it meant. My father, of course, claimed this proved everything in religion is just symbolic as it couldn’t be true considering the rarity of anavim and the fact nobody liked us. I’d also heard it claimed this had a sort of inevitability as anavim are the only true-breeding korbar.

The nibeyah, who was clearly somebody important, ushered us to a garden and offered us some cakes and a hot drink I didn’t recognize. Dwendra asked her a lot of technical questions about festival calendars and things. The nibeyah was now speaking Faharni. I wondered if she realized as there was only one language in Kledris.

At last I asked, “How can we know the truth?”

The nibeyah laughed and said, “You’re asking me. Aren’t anavim closer to Yoho than nibeyim?”

“We’re having trouble resolving certain issues,” I said.

“Festival dates?” asked the nibeyah.

“More Yoho’s avatar,” I said, realizing I could hardly explain the problem about the nuclear war. “Dwendra doesn’t believe in him.”

The nibeyah looked Dwendra in they eyes and said, “Why not?”

“It ist hard to believeth,” said Dwendra, “and there ist no evidence?”

“No evidence or none you’ll accept?” asked the nibeyah. “Isn’t the fact so many people do believe in him evidence?”

“Many people believeth things I’m sure canst not beth true,” said Dwendra.

I realized she was going to refer to Nuhar but he wasn’t known in Kledris.

“There is only one way you can really know,” said the high priestess (we’d now discovered this this was is who she was), “take my hands!” She reached out her hands to us. “It’s the only thing we nibeyim can do which anavim can’t.”

“I don’t think ...” said Rilletteecket.

It was too late. Dwendra and myself took the priestess’s hands. Suddenly I got a strange feeling, like Aleph's light was shining on me inside my head.

We materialized back behind the shed, a moment after we’d left.

“I should feel violated,” said Dwendra, “but it isn’t really too bad.”

“You’re talking normally,” I said, “I mean like you’re from this century.”

“I art?”

“Can you control it? People may wonder what happened.”

“Yes, I believeth so. I shouldst speaketh in the manner I wert taught for some people must knowest I art Sixteen.”

“I suppose we should go back to that stupid meeting thing before the others decide to do something stupid.”

We came out from behind the shed and found Attan and Miandri standing on the sand, looking at us curiously.

“How did you do those explosions of power?” asked Miandri.

“That’s rather hard to explain now,” I said, waving my arm at Attan.

“Don’t look at me,” Attan said, “I’ve no idea what she’s talking about. Why am I on the defensive? I’m not the one who spent the night in bed with somebody they just spent several minutes hiding behind a shed with.”

“Oh yeah, of course,” said Miandri.

“What happened about Mum’s meeting?” I asked.

“Dad told Mum off for telling you to solve your own problems and then complaining when you try it,” said Attan, “and said all we needed to do to sort things was to be nice to Dwendra.”

“Well she’s totally Yoho’s avatar ...”

“No I art not!” said Dwendra.

“... she’s come to slay the other gods so we should be nice to her.”

“I’m already nice to her,” I said.

“I suppose I might as well give this a try,” said Attan, “but try to act normal.”

We, meaning Attan, Dwendra, Miandri and myself, spent some time playing ball games in the garden. This helped with the weird feeling I’d had since meeting the high priestess. Fortunately the police had brought Miandri’s clothing. I think only Attan really liked sport and had much talent for it. Then the rest of us started using magic and psychokinesis to cheat, which rather annoyed Attan because he didn’t know we were doing it. It was also weird as Miandri was still convinced Dwendra was Yoho’s avatar.

I think Dad tried to work on his legal stuff and Mum mostly busied herself with housework and cooking. There was even a visit from a housekeeper who seemed to spend a long time talking to Mum.

In the evening we watched some internet shows. The only noteworthy thing was a news item.

“The police are taking the unusual step of sending a message to a fugitive known as Sixteen. ‘Come to Minris in three nights from now, go to the Vineyard Shrine after sapphire dark to meet the Grand Masters.’”

At bed time Dwendra and myself decided to have a long time of prayer in the bedroom, much to Attan’s disgust and he went off to sleep in the living room.